How bad was it?

I had the privilege of interviewing John Bolton on a conference call with Jay Nordlinger and a few other bloggy types (as Jay referred to us) while Bolton was serving as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. I wrote about the interview in “My favorite ambassador” and in “My favorite ambassador, take 2.”
Now that he is freed from the constraints of diplomatic service, Ambassador Bolton has produced the enlightening memoir Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad. Jay enthusiastically reviewed the book for National Review and devoted one of his Impromptus columns to “spillover” from the review. In his column, Jay quotes Bolton’s comment to “Swede extraordinaire” Jan Eliasson, president of the United Nations General Assembly: